Get Away From Me!
by The Evil Wolf Queen
Summary: Emeral is a cold-hearted hedgehog who pushes away everyone who wants to get close to her. But why? Rachel is her next door neighbor and she is the most persistent hedgehog on Mobius. She is determined to understand the girl who's mail always ends up in her mailbox. What will happen when Emeral meets Shadow and Espio? What about when the Sonic Team get involved? Summary sucks. Sorry
1. Prolouge

**This is Emeral.**

**Her life hasn't been peaceful. **

**Cops.**

**They come to her house every day.**

**People.**

**They try to help her.**

**But no one knows her past.**

**Her _private _past.**

**And they wouldn't want to.**

Rachel the Hedgehog jogged up to the porch of Emeral's house and knocked. No answer. She knocked again. Still no answer. Losing her patience, Rachel banged on the door.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" A cruel voice demanded.

"Whoa, somebody's mad...," Rachel muttered, slightly annoyed. "Nothing." She nodded briskly with acceptance and turned away, zipping off at a highly unusual speed for a hedgehog.

The owner of the voice flung open the door and glared at Rachel. Rachel, hearing the door open, turned around and, nearly tripping from the hedgehog's glare, screeched to a stop.

"Hello!" Rachel called, waving optimistically.

The hedgehog didn't answer, but instead closed her eyes and inhaled some fresh air. From behind the house, two horses neighed and two dogs barked.

Suddenly, a black German Shepherd hurled itself at Rachel.

As Rachel fought the dog off her as it seemed to be trying bite her face, the hedgehog walked outside, her navy blue dreads with red tips in a pretty, long braid that descended down her back, a few dreads loosely hanging out. The hedgehog was wearing black leather boots with a ninja outfit and weapons.

The hedgehog jogged towards the horse pen in her backyard. After feeding them a handful of carrots, the hedgehog hopped onto the chestnut horse. It had a perfect white heart on it's forehead. The other horse, Swift, was black with a white mane and it was bent over nibbling on its meal.

An annoyed shout from Rachel telling the dog to get the heck off her caught Emeral's attention and she remembered her manners. "Shay! Get back in the house, now! There's kibble for you and Star in the kitchen," the ninja ordered. The dog backed off Rachel (much to her relief).

"Sorry 'bout that," Emeral apologized stiffly as the dog ran inside the house.

"S'fine," Rachel responded, dusting herself off. "Your dog tried to kill me though. I think I had a heart attack."

"Well, I gotta go," Emeral said, unsure. "Bye." The chestnut horse took off racing down the streets, golden hoofs clinking and clanging as it galloped down the sidewalk.

"Wait!" Rachel cried, confused. "What the heck, man?!" She waved a stack of envelopes in the air. "I got your mail again!"

However, Emeral was too far away to hear. "Come on, Speed," the hedgehog whispered in the horse's ear as the horse sprouted long, graceful black wings from its back, grew a skull mask in place of its face, fur becoming a silky chocolate brown, and eyes glowing blood red. The demon horse skidded to a stop and shot up in the air, faster then Sheekra. But Emeral was used to this feeling, the wind in her face and quills, the breathtaking shoot up in the air; she was used to this. As the 'horse' flew, armor started to cover it. Silver armor.

Emeral flew the horse for awhile before landing in the grave yard where her family lay in peace and happiness. Phil, her dad. Rose, her mom. Emily, her sister. And Jake, her brother. Four graves all lined up next to each other in that order.

A black figure with red stripes that Emeral had never seen before was standing beside one of the graves. The grave was marked _Maria Robotnik._ It was right next to Phil's. Creepy, right? The figure was holding a pink rose in his gloved hand.

"Stay here, boy," Emeral whispered. She tiptoed forward, careful not to disturb the black hedgehog in his mourning.

"I can hear you, you know," the black hedgehog said flatly. Crap, oh crap.

Emeral stayed silent as she slowly walked up to the grave.

"Who are you?" Emeral asked lowly, avoiding eye contact.

"Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog. And you?" Shadow asked, his red eyes glaring suspiciously.

"Give me one good reason why I should tell _you_," she challenged angrily, glaring right back.

"Give _me_ one good reason why you _shouldn't_," Shadow shot back, even more suspicious now.

"I can still see their _mocking_ faces, their _scowls_, their _hatred..._I know this place isn't any different." Emeral spat furiously, her eyes narrowing at him.

"_What_ are you_ talking_ about, woman?" Shadow glowered, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Still waiting for that reason," Emeral huffed, turning away from him. She couldn't help but smirk at her own wit.

"Okay, let's see..," Shadow frowned, taking on her little challenge. "How about because I'm the Ultimate Life-form and I could kick you across the country if you continue to be uncooperative."

Emeral laughed spitefully. "Uh, what_ever_, loser." She rolled her eyes. "I don't care who you are, excuse me, _what_ you are...that's not reason enough. Keep 'em coming." In the meantime, she leaned over and placed a red flower on her father's grave.

Shadow watched her place the flower on the patch of dirt and remembered why he was in the cemetery. He quickly laid the pink rose on Maria's grave. "Fine, whatever, I don't care." He straightened up and closed his eyes in the typical Shadow fashion. "See you around? Nah, probably not."

"You're right, probably not," Emeral agreed, laying down a blue rose on her mother's grave.

Shadow eyed the blue rose. "Where did you get a hold of a blue rose?" he asked her, his suspicions returning. "They don't exist."

"Oh, you're still here? Surprise, surprise. I _am_ shocked." Emeral rested her hand on her heart sarcastically. "And to answer your question, I dyed a white rose, genius." Now she was putting a lavender flower on her sister's grave.

"At least you answered one of my questions," Shadow said.

Emeral pulled a red flower with blue tips out of nowhere, or so it seemed to Shadow. She put it on her brother's grave. "And that's all you ever get." She flashed two fingers in his face. "Peace."

As Emeral turned to walk away, Shadow looked like he was going to stop her for a second but then thought better of it. He snorted sardonically, whisked a green chaos emerald out of his quills, and held it in the air. She turned around in time to see him vanish in a flash of a white light.

Emeral was not impressed. "Still a loser." She turned back and hopped on her horse. "I can do that without some cheap gem." The hedgehog smacked Speed's rear. "Ride!" And it was off.

* * *

Once she was home, Emeral led her now-normal horse into the barn with Swift before strutting back up the walk to her front door. She was about to go inside, but the feel of something other then concrete under her foot caught her attention. The hedgehog looked down to see a stack of envelopes under her boot.

"Hey, it's my mail," Emeral stated. "Huh." She shrugged her shoulders dismissively, scooping up the stack of paper.

Emeral started tossing all the unimportant envelopes over her shoulder as she entered her house and locked the door behind her. "Bill." Toss. "Bill." Toss. "Bill." Chuck. "Coupon." Stare. Toss. "Bill." Hurl. "Magazine." Rip. "Bill." Fling. "Bill." Toss. "...note?" Emeral opened the folded paper.

"Hedgehog Next Door (sorry, you never told me your name),

I got your mail again. So, uh, here you go. I would have given it to you in person, but it seems you had a date with your horse. I could have run after you, but...well...I didn't want to disturb you. You aren't the kind of person who likes to be disturbed, are you? Hmm. Well, I guess I'll leave you alone now."

Rachel had crossed out the conclusion "Your friend" and replaced it with "Your neighbor". Her name was signed in a curly cue font.

Emeral stared at the note for a second. She then tossed the note onto a desk and returned to her daily duties.

**Don't flame meh.**

**You'll understand why she's so mean.**

**Until next time...**

**The Emeral and Rachel stories ;P**


	2. Progress? Nah

Rachel sifted through the contents in her mailbox. "Let's see...bills...argh go away." She eyed the envelopes. "Wait..."

One of the envelopes was addressed to her next door neighbor. The one she still didn't know the name to. The bill didn't even say her name! Just the address! ARGH. What is _wrong_ with companies these days? Rachel angrily tucked the bill under her arm and slammed the mailbox shut, locking her own mail in it.

"That's it! This is the last time I get her mail!" Rachel grumbled. Fortunately, the mail lady was still driving down the street so she whizzed down the street after the postal carrier.

"Hey! Mail lady!" Rachel demanded, stopping at the window of the car as the mail lady shoved a stack of mail into a random mailbox. She shoved Emeral's mail in her face. "I keep getting my neighbors mail! If this had happened every once in a while, I would have been fine. But this has been going on _every day_ for _three years_!" The lavender hedgehog stomped her foot. "I want you to put this to an end!"

The mail lady looked at the mail. "Well, the people down at the station keep telling me to put it in yours," she explained. "Apparently they don't know anything about her and every time she gets her own mail, she lets it pile up until her mailbox explodes. We can't let that happen, so we give it to you." She handed the mail back to Rachel.

Rachel looked at the mail with contempt. "Well, okay then," she sighed, annoyed. "Thanks, I guess."

On her walk back home (yes, walk), Rachel continued to glare at the bill. "You annoy me," she told it.

It didn't answer.

"I wish you would end up in your own mailbox every once in a while," she continued.

Silence.

"I wish your owner would check her mail so I didn't end up with you."

Still nothing.

Rachel groaned loudly. "UGH. Whatever." She rubbed her forehead. "Silver lining...silver lining...aha! Because of you, I get an excuse to talk to your owner!" The girl did a little dance in the middle of the road. "Yes! Maybe one day she'll decide we can be friends!"

Rachel grinned with resolute. "Persistence is key! She'll come around!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Shadow was strolling the streets of Station Square, reminiscing. He walked by random people, avoiding them with his eyes closed because he has mad skills.

"That girl...she was so rude," Shadow mumbled to himself. "I have never met a girl so...upfront. It was quite disturbing." Something was troubling him about her. Something made him feel like he wanted to know who she was. Maybe she was some mass criminal who was gonna murder everyone. Or maybe she was just some smart mouth hedgehog who wasn't afraid to sass him. Either way...

"Humph," Shadow huffed, crossing his arms. "Maybe G.U.N. has her profile." He touched a button his wrist watch. A screen popped up of a white bat.

"Rouge," the black hedgehog said flatly.

"Shadow," she mocked, deepening her voice to match his. "W'sup, handsome?"

Shadow rolled his eyes. "I need you to find someone for me. She is a suspicious character."

"Okay, what's her name?" Rouge asked, smirking.

"I don't know."

Rouge glared. "And how on _Mobius_ am I supposed to find this girl without a name?" she asked him angrily. "At _least_ give me a description."

Shadow scratched his head. "Navy blue...uh...a little red...on the tips of her...uh...hair..." He tapped his fingers on the watch, not caring if Rouge had a weird image on her screen. "Red eyes..."

Rouge was silent for a second. "Okay, hedgehog. Now we have 1,203 suggestions. Wanna keep describing?"

"Ugh," Shadow groaned. "She looked about my height, maybe a little shorter."

"Three foot two inches then?" Rouge asked. She typed it in before he could answer. "Now it's at 578."

"She was kinda rude," Shadow said for no reason. "She called me a loser. I am the Ultimate Life-form. I am _not_ a loser."

Rouge laughed. "Hah! I think me and this girl could get along, Shadsie."

"Humph," Shadow humphed. "She was skinny...yet well-built. That girl had more muscle then me, Rouge! Kinda pale in the face, like she's never seen sunlight."

"Wow! The list just went to 34! Nice work, Shadsie!"

"It's Shadow," Shadow corrected with exasperation. "Shad-ow."

"Awww...but Shadsie is so much fun to say!" Rouge whined, pouting. "Keep describing, Shadsie. Do you think she lives in the area?"

Shadow considered that. "Well, I met her at the Station Square cemetery, so probably."

"And we're down to 4!" Rouge cheered. "Okay, I'm gonna send you their ID's. First is Sara the Hedgehog."

Shadow looked down at the photo of an old woman. "Rouge, she was my age."

"Yes, I know," Rouge said slyly. "She is your age, isn't she?"

"Rouge!"

"Okay, okay, all joking aside. There's only one who's your age. But the file is unknown." Rouge trailed off. "I've never seen an unknown file before, Shadow."

Shadow groaned. "This means we have to look harder. Dang it. Is there a photo?"

Rouge squinted. "It's blurry," she told him. "I can't make anything out. Maybe you can."

The picture _was_ blurry. However, Shadow never forgot a face and Emeral's face was clear as day to him.

"That's her," he said. "What's her name, Rouge?"

"Did I not just tell you the file was unknown?" Rouge shook her head. "Boys..."

"I'm going to find her, Rouge," Shadow said firmly. "Even if I have to break into G.U.N.'s private files."

Rouge giggled. "Ooh, you bad boy," she flirted, batting her eyelashes. "May I help you in your search,_ bad boy_?"

Shadow sighed loudly just to get on her nerves. "Not if I can stop you."

"You can't."

"Then I guess you can."

* * *

At Emeral's house, Emeral was painting a landscape in her painting gallery. She had her thumb through a wood palette covered in every color of the rainbow and was stroking the paper with her paintbrush. It was one of the only things she ever did.

Suddenly, a knock at the door scared the living daylights out of her, causing her to jump...and to drop her wood palette onto the floor. Several colors splashed everywhere, covering her with paint as well as her painting with rainbow polka dots. Emeral stared down at herself, shell-shocked. She was a living rainbow. Her painting was ruined.

Whoever was at the door was dead.

Emeral stormed out of the room, through the hallways and up to the front door. She swung it open, her glare so fierce it could have killed anyone on the spot.

It was Rachel.

Rachel stood in the doorway, the bill from earlier in her hand. She blinked when she saw Emeral, head to toe in rainbow paint, her jaw slack.

"Um...maybe this is a bad time...," Rachel stammered nervously. Suddenly, her own house seemed very inviting. "I...uh...got your mail...again."

"KEEP IT!" Emeral screamed in her face, slamming the door.

Rachel wasn't sure how to respond. She didn't want another bill. She got enough of them already. Maybe she could slip it under the door...

The door slowly opened again. Emeral snatched the envelope out of Rachel's hand. "Thanks," she grumbled. Then she shut the door again, this time more gentle.

Happiness overcame Rachel. "She thanked me!" Rachel squealed. "She's never thanked me before! I'm making progress!" She fist-pumped the air.

Meanwhile, Emeral was standing at the other side of the door listening. "Uh-huh, progress, she says." The hedgehog snorted. "As if!"

**Um...**

**Rachel is an idiot -Rachel**

**Anyways, see you next time on...**

**The Emeral and Rachel stories.**


	3. Angry much?

"Find anything yet, Rouge?" Shadow asked in a low voice. The two agents were secretly searching through all the locked files G.U.N. kept in the back of the agency.

Rouge lifted up an old sock from behind a desk. "Does this look like I'm finding anything?" she whispered back, sounding frustrated. "Because I am, you just wouldn't like what I'm finding!"

Shadow gagged. "Rouge, get rid of that! It smells!"

"Never!" Rouge refused, throwing it at him. It landed on his face. "It becomes you!"

"ROUGE."

"Fine, fine," Rouge giggled, peeling the sock off his face. "Why so serious?" Her voice sounded sinister and scratchy. Shadow got the reference.

"Rouge. Don't quote the Joker."

"Sorry, it just fit perfectly," Rouge winked. When she saw his glare, she started going through files again. "Maybe I should start searching again..."

"Yeah..._maybe_..." His glare cut through her.

After watching her look for a couple second just to make sure she was actually looking and not searching for more old socks to throw, Shadow started looking himself. All the files were old and brown and smelled like old people. It was disgustingly dusty as well. If Shadow wasn't the Ultimate Life-form, he would have sneezed.

"ACHOO!" Rouge sneezed, blowing huge clumps of dust everywhere. "I am SO not cleaning this! We'll let Sonic do it!"

Shadow had to grin at that. "He'd cause a dust tornado if we let him," he joked. "We'd all die before he was finished from suffocation."

Rouge lifted a musty old file randomly and blew on it. "That boy is too erratic sometimes. He needs to slow down."

"That's never gonna happen," Shadow said bluntly.

"Maybe not," Rouge shrugged. "Maybe so. Maybe he just needs to _settle down_ to slow down, if you know what I mean." She winked.

Shadow looked over at the triumphant bat. "Actually, I don't know what you mean. Would you mind clarifying that for me?"

"You're such a blond, Shadsie," Rouge sighed.

"Do you see any yellow spots on me? I'm black and red, woman!"

Rouge ignored him. "He needs some_one_ to help him settle down," she explained. "Someone strict, but not too strict, to keep him from getting too out of control. Someone mellow, yet not too mellow because that'd be weird. Someone gentle and kind and-"

"Rouge, you're describing Amy."

That shut her up. Rouge didn't like Amy all that much. "Oh. Oh dear." Rouge blinked. "I _am_ describing-oh my gosh. Amy. I never even-I mean, how could I have-I never thought...AMY?!"

"Yes, Amy," Shadow said, very amused. "Who knew the stalker was perfect for him?"

"She's not a stalker," Rouge frowned, glaring at him. "She's not even a fan-girl. She genuinely likes Sonic. Facts are facts."

"And you know this...how?"

"Years of training," Rouge boasted. "You have to be able to read people to become a top agent here at G.U.N., Shadsie."

There was an awkward silence.

"Why are we talking about that faker and his love life?" Shadow burst out saying, breaking the ice. "I don't care about that loser!"

"You call him a loser...," Rouge observed. "Yet you hated it when that girl called_ you_ a loser. Anyone else seeing any signs here?"

"Well, he actually _is_ a loser, for your information!" Shadow yelled, picking up a random folder from behind him and waving it in her face. "I, however, am _not_ a loser. I am the-"

"Ultimate Life-form," Rouge finished for him. "We know."

"Yes! I am the_ Ultimate_ Life-form!" Shadow said, his voice still raised. "And anyone with the title 'Ultimate' is _not_ a _LOSER_!"

The door swung open the moment the word "Loser" escaped his lips. Standing in the doorway were two, buff G.U.N. agents.

Busted.

* * *

Shadow and Rouge stood before the General, several troops in black and blue uniforms surrounding them. Shadow was hiding the file he'd randomly grabbed in his quills where he'd shoved it before him and Rouge had been dragged here.

The General looked_ mad_.

"You two are my highest ranked agents!" he was shouting. "How dare you snoop around in the private files of the agency! It's against the rules, I thought you two would know that by now! Don't you still have your manuals with you anymore?"

"They're, like, fifty feet thick," Rouge sassed. "No."

That didn't help. "Don't you sass me, young lady!" the General yelled.

"Actually, I'm a bat-"

"What on Mobius were you two doing, looking around in the whole world's private files? Those files are for my eyes only, and I don't even go through them because they're old and dusty and smell funny!"

"We realized," Rouge said, leaning against Shadow's shoulder. Shadow shoved her off.

"Exactly," the General agreed. He seemed to be calming down now. "So what were you doing? Spring Cleaning?"

"Actually we were looking for-oof!" Shadow was cut off by Rouge elbowing him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

"Your socks, General," Rouge said, completing his sentence. "And we found them." She held up the smelly pair.

Shadow's eyes bugged out of his head. "You brought them?!" he hissed in her ear. "How-? But-I don't-why would you even-how did you find the time to-_why would you bring those with you?!_"

Rouge winked. "You can thank me later," she giggled, tossing the socks at the General. He let them fall on the ground.

"No way am I touching those foul things!" the General cried. "They'll probably give me a disease!" He kicked them away from him. All the guards backed away from the socks.

The General looked ill. "I think I'm gonna-" He ran out of the room, his face turning green and his hand flying to cover his mouth.

"Quick!" Rouge shouted, stretching out her long black wings. "Let's fly, Shadsie!" Grabbing his hand whether he wanted her help or not, she took off into the air and soared out of the agency, dragging him along.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Rouge dropped Shadow smack in the middle of Station Square. "Here we are, ma chérie," she winked, speaking in a french accent.

"Aller sauter d'un pont," Shadow shot back at her, annoyed with her flirting.** (Go jump off a bridge)**

Rouge stared at his back as he walked casually away, racking her brain for the translation of his statement. Then she figured it out a moment later and her pale white face flamed red.

"I CAN FLY, YOU KNOW!" she shrieked after him, her hands curled into fists. She waved them around wildly. "GET BACK HERE, YOU JERK!"

Shadow smirked at her rage as he pulled the folder out of his quills. "So...what kind of info did I make it out with?" He opened it up as he walked down the sidwalk. There were several files in the folder and most of them looked too tedious to even look at.

"Mia the Raccoon," Shadow read, yawning. "Lives...in Apotos. Oh dear...that's three hundred miles away." He tossed that file into the air. "Can't be her. She would have traveled that far just to put a flower on her families graves."

"Next...Noah the Duck...lives in Mazuri...again.._.way_ too far away." he paused. "And it's a guy. And a duck." He flipped to the next file. "Sophia the Hedgehog...promising so far...she lives in..." Shadow slapped the folder into his face. "Holoska. GAH."

Shadow glared at the folder. "Why do you have to get my hopes up!?" he shouted at it.

The next file however caught his eye. "Emeral the Hedgehog," he read slowly. "Lives...in Station Squa-" The black hedgehog stopped short. "HOLY CRAP, I THINK I FOUND HER!"

Shadow continued to read, his excitement building. "Emeral the Hedgehog," he reread. "Lives in Station Square. Navy blue hedgehog with bits of red and red eyes. Female. Born August 2nd...she's fourteen...and a half...address is..." He smirked. "I got you now."

When Shadow looked up, he realized he was walking past Emeral's house. How ironic. He knew it was hers because the address matched the one in the file.

"Well, that worked out well," Shadow nearly laughed. He hadn't felt this awesome in years. Now he could _finally_ get some answers out of this girl! He knew her name, so he could totally rub that in her face. Shadow was about to stomp right up to her door and knock it down when a blue blur - a very, annoyingly blue blur - sped by him, almost knocking him off his feet.

Shadow glared in the direction the blur had gone. "Faker...," he muttered under his breath.

The blue blur sped by him again, this time going the other way. Then its came to a screeching stop right in front of him after turning around. The blur was actually a blue hedgehog wearing nothing but red sneakers and gloves. He was grinning at Shadow.

"Hey, Shadster!" the blue hedgehog called jovially. "I almost didn't see you there. Isn't it fortunate I did?"

"No." Man, this kid was so freakin' nuisance.

The hedgehog chuckled. "Shadow...always one for jokes." He eyed the folder in Shadow's hand. "What you got there, Shadster?"

"Sonic, if you lay _one finger_ on this file-!"

Sonic laid a finger on it.

Shadow's eye twitched. "Get. Your. Finger. Off. My. File before I CHOP IT OFF!"

Sonic bit his tongue, but couldn't help but allow a small laugh to escape. He slowly took his finger back, pretending to be listening to the black hedgehog...then suddenly he lashed out and snatched the folder out of Shadow's hand.

"YOU LITTLE FART!" Shadow bellowed. "GIVE THAT BACK!"

Sonic was already opening the file and Shadow knew he didn't have much time to act. Emeral would murder the world if Sonic saw her info. He fingered the green chaos emerald in his quills, closed his eyes, and shouted, "CHAOS CONTROL!"

Time slowed down in an instant. Sonic's hand was slowly, slowly, _slow-ly _cracking open the folder, a grin slowly, slowly, _slow-ly_ forming on his face. Without much effort, Shadow just slipped Emeral's file from the folder and shoved it into his quills. It was as easy as that. Time immediately sped up and Sonic opened the folder.

Shadow crossed his arms across his chest. "So, what did you find, Faker?" he smirked.

Sonic's brow furrowed. "Rachel the Hedgehog," he read, confused. "Lives in Station Square. Lavender hedgehog with blue eyes. Female. Born December 30th...she's as old as me! Fifteen! And her address is..." He looked up and whirled around. "Right there."

"What?"

Sonic pointed at Rachel's house right next to Emeral's. "She lives right there," he said. "That's her address."

And it just so happened that Rachel's door opened and Rachel herself walked out of her house, a stack of mail in her arms. She strolled down the driveway and was about to turn to walk down the sidewalk when she saw Sonic pointing at her house.

"Um...can I help you?" Rachel asked nervously and kind of creeped out.

Sonic's hand dropped to his side. "You.._.you're_ Rachel the Hedgehog."

Rachel backed away. "Um..._what_?" She looked around wildly with confusion. "M-_me_? How do you _know_ this?!"

"I have my ways...?" Sonic started to sweat.

"How? What _kind_ of ways?" Rachel narrowed her eyes. "Are you some kind of_ stalker_?"

"No no no no no!" Sonic cried, waving his arms around. "It's not _like_ that! No, I'm not-_phhtttt_ no! Are you _kidding_ me? _Me_? A _stalker_? Yeah _right_! Sonic the Hedgehog does_ not_ stalk girls._ No way_. Uh-uh."

"You don't have to introduce yourself, you idiot!" Rachel scoffed. "_Every_one knows who _you_ are. However,_ nobody_ knows who _I_ am. So you had_ better_ start explaining before you become fast friends with_ that tree_ over there!"

Shadow didn't want anything to do with this conversation. Instead, he was staring at Emeral's house. For a second, a very scary, creepy second, he thought he saw someone staring down at him in the window. However, the window's were tinted, so it was hard to tell.

And then the door opened. And Emeral stomped out.

Shadow watched, unable to move out of surprise, as Emeral walked right up to him, jabbed her finger into his chest, and hissed, "What are _you_ doing here?"

"I live here," Shadow glared. "You telling me I can't walk around in my own town?"

"But what are _you _doing here, outside of _my _house?!" Emeral yelled.

"My apologies," Shadow said sarcastically. "This seems to be a very unlucky coincidence, _Emeral_."

Emeral took a step back. "How do you know my name?" she demanded.

"I've been standing outside your house every night for two years now and I guess I just picked it up," Shadow said, sarcasm dripping from his words like honey.

Emeral retook her place right in front of his face. She growled, "Liar." Something crackled and her eyes started to turn maroon.

Shadow squinted at her. "Um...are you sick? Do you need a doctor? I can teleport you there if you need-" A louder crackling coming from her hair stopped him right in the middle of his sentence.

Shadow backed up off the street. "Are you...okay?"

"Why would _you _care, _Shadow." _Emeral's voice sounded menacing. Almost deadly.

By now, Sonic and Rachel had stopped arguing and noticed the commotion.

"Holy cow," Rachel muttered. "When did _she_ get here? She _never_ leaves her house! Except that _one_ day when she _ditched me_ for a happy horse ride..."

"...a happy horse ride?" Sonic echoed, staring at her.

Rachel scowled. "She left me so she could ride her horse to who-knows-where," she said to him. "Did I dumb it down enough for you?"

"Nah, a little more and I'll be good."

"Um...you guys?" Shadow grabbed Sonic's arm with one hand and Rachel's with the other and dragged them away from Emeral. "I think Emeral's gonna kill us."

"Her name is Emeral?" Rachel sounded liked she was in a dream.

"She's gonna _kill_ us?" Sonic cried, baffled. "She's...what?! No! I'm too_ young _to die! I'm only_ fifteen_! I still have _so_ many more years to live! I can't die now! It's not cool to say I died before Eggman did! I mean, he doesn't even have_ diabetes_ yet! And we _all_ know he's gonna get it. I never got to help Tails with the Tornado! I never got to punch Knuckles in the face and run before he got to kill me! I never got to tell Amy I loved her!"

Both Shadow and Rachel looked at Sonic, eyes wide. "WHAT?!"

Sonic's face flamed red. "Uh...you heard nothing."

Shadow was about to start teasing Sonic when suddenly he saw Emeral with her head turned, her eyes staring into his soul.

'I'll kill you,' she mouthed.

"HOLY-!" Shadow stammered. "RUN!" He took off down the road.

Rachel came to her senses first. She grabbed Sonic's hand and took off dragging him off to the side between the houses.

"Where are we going?!" Sonic asked, his eyes wide.

"To Amy's house!" Rachel said with determination.

Sonic's face turned red again. "No no no no no no no no no!" he wailed. "_Anything_ but that! Anything! _ANYTHING_!"

"Alright, we'll ask Scourge," Rachel glared.

Sonic's eyes bugged out. "NO! GAH, PLEASE! He will _never_ let me live it down if we ask HIM for help! Amy will be fine! Take me there!"

"If you say so," Rachel smirked.

* * *

With Shadow, he was still skating down the street, breathing hard. Every few seconds he would look over his shoulder to see if she was following him, but she was never there. And that _freaked_ him out. Yes. Him. The _Ultimate_ Life-form.

_Woosh_. Emeral suddenly appeared right in front of him, her back to him and her arms crossed. Shadow skidded to a stop, fire burning up the road thanks to his skates. He came to a perfect stop inches away from her. She looked over her shoulder with a bored expression.

"It's about time you showed up," Emeral said. "I've aged thirty years waiting for you."

Shadow frowned. "Are you calling me slow?"

"Exactly."

Ooh, that was _not_ nice! This girl really knew how to get under his skin. "I am_ not_ slow!" he shouted. "I may not be as fast as that idiot faker, but I _am_ fast!"

"Sure, sure. You believe what you want to believe, and I'll believe what I know is true." She turned around fully. "What are you gonna do about it?"

Shadow was confused. Why was she not killing him? Not that he_ wanted_ her to or anything, he was just confused why she _wasn't_.

"Are you going to answer me or are you gonna stand there gawping like a goldfish?"

Okay. Now she was just being rude."I am not gawping!" Shadow shouted.

"Okay then, answer my question." She frowned at his hesitation. "What are you gonna do about it?"

Nothing. Everything. What was there to do? Man, this girl was impossible. "I don't know."

Emeral drew back in mock horror. "What's _this_? The _Ultimate_ Life-form doesn't know what to do for _payback_? Oh. My. Gosh." She picked up an imaginary phone and put it to her ear. "Mr. President? It's an emergency! There's something I need to put into the Book of World's Records!"

"Shut up," Shadow ordered, his face burning.

"Give me one good reason why I should."

Oh, she did _not_ just go there. How dare she déjà vu this whole thing! That was just...wrong.

"Because you're being annoying!" Shadow yelled in her face. "Stop messing with me! I am not the kind of hedgehog to take that kind of crap for too long!"

"What about that white bat?" Emeral smirked.

Shadow felt sick to his stomach. "_Rouge_?" he spat. "That girl is a _flirt_, and there's nothing I can do about that!"

"Same goes for me," Emeral pointed out. "You said yourself, you didn't know what you were gonna do about me."

"Shut up, shut up!" Shadow groaned. "Stop being a smart mouth!"

"Fine," Emeral said. She turned to leave him and walk back to her house.

But Shadow wasn't done with her yet. "Wait!" He reached out and grabbed her wrist.

Emeral froze and Shadow gasped as a flashback entered his mind...but it wasn't his own.

_An eleven year old hedgehog sat in a desk at school, a notebook lying open in front of her. She was writing in it obliviously._

_A tall guy walked over to her desk and snatched up the notebook. He was saying stuff, calling her stuff. Names. Horrible things. _

_The girl got up out of the desk and started to run down the classroom and pushed herself through the door. She started to run down the hallway. People turn as she rushes by. In their eyes is a horrible hatred. Every one of them. They were whispering things. Things about her, she knew. Who else could it be? No one was hated like she was._

_"Hey, Emeral!" some guy called from behind her. The girl turned around nervously._

_The guy sneered at her. His mouth opened and one word escaped from it. Only one, but it was enough. One name. One awful, nasty, filthy name._

_And the girl ran. She ran and ran and ran right out of the school, tears pouring out of her eyes and down her face._

Numbly, Shadow dropped Emeral's wrist. He gaped at her. He gaped and gaped and gaped, speechless.

Emeral refused to look at anything.

"Emeral...what was that?" Shadow asked slowly.

"Part of my past," Emeral stated simply.

"That...was awful...were you really that...?" Hated?

"You can say it...I don't care," she told him as if reading his thoughts.

Shadow scratched the back of his head and then cursed himself for pulling off such a Sonic-y gesture. "I'd rather not...out of respect," he said.

"Does it _look_ like care about respect?!" Emeral shouted with contempt, her temper flaring.

"Not really," Shadow said bluntly. "I just thought you should get some anyway."

"I don't need respect, Shadow," Emeral stated. "If I _did_, I would've _made_ them give me some a _long_ time ago, if-"

"Then why should I feel bad for you?" Shadow blurted out, cutting her off.

"If," Emeral repeated, annoyed of being interrupted, "I weren't so helpless back then."

* * *

"Wait wait wait!" Sonic told Rachel. "This is it! We're at Amy's house. But, I mean, it took us long enough."

Rachel spun around and glowered furiously at him. "Maybe we would have gone _faster_ if you'd run too instead of making me_ drag_ you all the way here!"

Sonic waved that notion aside. "Eh, whatever." His cheeks turned pink. "Let's get Amy."

"Yes, let's," Rachel teased, poking him. Sonic swatted her hand away, flustered.

"Go get her, Sonic," she told him. "Go. Now!"

Sonic shuffled his feet around nervously. "But...I don't wanna..."

"You cannot refuse this!" Rachel said. "Now stop acting like you're five and go get the girl!"

"But...but..."

"NOW."

Sonic looked down. "O-okay...," he sighed, shuffling up to the door while staring at the ground. He raised his fist to knock, then his fist started trembling and he fell over onto the ground.

"Oh my gosh, I killed him!" Rachel cried out, terrified. She ran over and knelt beside him, checking his pulse.

He was fine.

"Oh, you little brat!" Rachel huffed, kicking him with her blue boot. She stood up and knocked loudly on the door. "AMY! OPEN UP, IT'S SONIC!" she bellowed, deepening her voice so she actually sounded like Sonic himself.

"No...no...no...!" Sonic hacked, thrashing around on the ground. "I'm not decent! Don't come to the door! I'll die! I'll diiiieeeeee..."

Rachel grabbed his arms and hauled him to his feet. "Now stand still and be cool," she told him angrily. "Be cool for your girlfriend."

"She's not my-!"

"_Yet_. She's not yours _yet_." Rachel grinned. "But if you don't be cool you'll never have her! And doesn't the hero always get the girl?"

Sonic straightened up. "You're right! The hero does always get the girl!" He placed his hands on his hips and struck a sexy pose.

Rachel slapped her forehead. "Idiot..."

The sound of footsteps from within Amy's house caught both their attention. Sonic fell out of his pose and latched his arms around a tree for support. Rachel jumped with surprise.

"Time for this matchmaker to bail!" Rachel dived into the bushes.

"No!" Sonic begged, reaching out. "Don't leave me! Nooooooo..."

The door opened.

Sonic whirled around, releasing the tree, to face the pink hedgehog standing in the doorway. "A-A-Amy!" he stammered out.

"Sonic? I thought that was you!" Amy smiled brightly, running over and throwing her arms around him. "I've missed you!"

Sonic grabbed the tree with one hand so he wouldn't fall over. The other was subconsciously on her waist. "Amy...we saw each other this morning..."

"I know, but that seems like such a long time ago!" Amy chirped. She squeezed him tighter. "Today has been so boring! Cream was busy and I can't find Rouge anywhere! Knuckles is a knucklebrain and needs to get a life and Tails is married to his plane...I even called up _Shadow_, but he didn't even answer! And you...you're way too unpredictable for me to track." The girl squealed. "I'm just glad I've got you now!"

Sonic had completely zoned out during that whole speech. All he could think about was that she was touching him and he couldn't breathe and Rachel was probably video taping him in his idiocy and air was becoming a major concern and did she say Shadow?!

"Wait...Shadow?" Sonic asked, trying to force down the weird feeling coming up his throat. "Why Shadow, Amy?"

"Well...I don't know really..." Amy giggled cutely. "I just ran out of people to call and I can't call you...so Shadow seemed okay...but he didn't answer...so it's fine."

"Why can't you call me?" Sonic frowned, pursing his lips.

"Are you _kidding_ me, Sonic the Hedgehog?" Exasperation was entering her tone. "For _one_ thing, you _refuse_ to carry a phone, and if you _did_ you wouldn't answer it. Also, you're just...so_ impossible_! I can never find you_ any_where! So I even gave up_ chasing_ you...which is _killing_ me, by the way..."

"Yeah...but...Shadow...?!" Sonic was still on the first thing she'd said.

Amy gaped at him. "Sonic, did you even listen to a _word_ I said?!"

"Um...yeah...you called Shadow...and..."

Amy backed out of his arms angrily, shoving him away. "Ooh, Sonic, I can't believe you!" she spat out. "I can't believe...you...I actually thought...that you...you..." She stamped her foot. "AGH. You are a horrible person, Sonic! I can't believe I...I..." The girl turned away. "Whatever, it doesn't matter anymore. Just...just go run away like you always do. Go on! Leave me here, just like you used to! I don't care."

Sonic started to sweat. Crap. What had he done? All he tried to do was...well...he didn't even know. But...wait...were those tears in her eyes? NO. NO. NOOO. Anything but that! What to do, what to do, what to do?! He turned to where Rachel was peeking out of the bushes, absolutely freaked out. Amy was trudging back into her house and he was running out of time.

"Rachel, I blew it!" he whispered frantically. "What do I do?!"

Rachel banged her head into the tree in front of her. "Go after her, you ditz!"

"But...she told me to leave!"

"Oh my go-SONIC!" Rachel hissed. "Whenever a girl tells a guy to leave, she means the exact opposite! She wants you to go after her, not leave her to cry!"

"Then why didn't she just say that?!" Sonic groaned.

"Because it's a _test_, you ding dong!" she told him. "Now go ace it!"

Sonic stood up straightened up like before, striking his sexy pose again. "You're right, Rachel!" he said in a deep voice. "I must pass her test!" He took off after her, pushing open the door before she could close it.

Rachel breathed out with relief. "Let's hope he can_ keep_ that confidence..."

"Let's hope who can keep what confidence?"

Rachel whirled around to see Shadow and Emeral behind her. "Holy freakin' cheese nuggets you scared me!" she accused. "Where did you two come from? And why isn't Emeral trying to kill Shadow?"

Shadow leaned forward and whispered, "I was wondering the same thing..."

Emeral smacked him on the back of his head lightly. "Quiet."

"So, what's going on here then?" Shadow asked.

"I forced, er, _told_ Sonic to talked to Amy, he was an idiot and offended her, so when she was storming inside I told him to be a man and go after her," Rachel explained. "And surprisingly, he did."

"Not bad for a faker...not bad...," Shadow grinned. This time Rachel smacked him on the head. "Ow!" he complained. "Animal abuse!"

"I wonder what they're doing in there...," Rachel wondered, not even thinking about the way she'd worded that statement.

Shadow burst out laughing and Emeral hid her face in her hand. "Wanna consider rephrasing that sentence, Rachel?"

Rachel blushed. "Guys! they're too young for that! Besides, this is a K+ fanfiction! Let's keep it that way!"

Shadow and Emeral both smacked Rachel. "Stop breaking the fourth wall, you dingy!"

"I'm not a boat!" Rachel whined. "That's offensive!"

"I wonder how that faker's handling the pressure...," Shadow sneered.

"He's probably lying on the floor dying as we speak...," Emeral observed.

"I'm sure he's fine," Rachel said positively. "We'll know when he's fessed up to Amy because she'll scream so loud all of us will be deaf."

"We should eavesdrop at the door!" Shadow suggested.

"We should," Emeral agreed. "I'd love to be able to hear Sonic screwing everything up."

"I don't know...," Rachel hesitated. "Invading Sonic and Amy's privacy?" She grinned evilly. "Why not? Let's go!"

The three hedgehogs crept up to the door and pressed their ears against the door.

"...the truth, Amy!" Sonic was saying. He sounded exhausted.

"Why should I believe you?" Amy cried, her voice sounded close to tears. "All you've ever done is lie to me!"

"I'm sorry, Amy," he said sincerely. "Really, I am. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. I was just so angry and...and...I don't know...I've never felt this feeling before...but...I hated that you called Shadow before you even attempted me...the thought just took over my brain...and I couldn't concentrate on anything else! I'm so sorry. I'm such an idiot..."

"He admits it!" Shadow cheered under his breath.

"You are too, Shadow," Emeral folded her arms, she looked kind of funny with her ear to the door, as well as her arms folded.

"I can't hear a thing! Quiet!" Rachel whispered.

Emeral nodded and kept listening.

"Oof," Sonic fell to the floor, as we _assumed _that Amy had hugged him.

Emeral facepalmed.

**Yeah, I know.**

**The ending kinda sucked.**

**Anyways, see you next time on **

**The Emeral and Rachel stories!**

**Next time on Get Away From Me!...**

**Emeral got up from the door. **

**"They're boring. I'm leaving. See you later," Emeral, being Emeral, shrugged her shoulders and vanished out of thin air. **


	4. He's Too Flippin' Persistent!

**Hi****.**

**It's us. Finally.**

**Rachel finally got to sleep over. WE ARE ROCKIN' AND ROLLING ALLLL NIIIGHT LOOONG.**

**Rachel: My character got the wrong mail again. She's pretty pissed right now...so don't flame her for being weird and crazy and fangirlish, or she might go all SUPER RACHEL on yo face!  
**

**That's right, Rachel is kewl. Gots it? GOTS IT.**

**Emeral: I think they "gots it"**

**Rachel: Then my work here is done.**

**Emeral: OY! NO IT AIN'T! YOU HAVE TO HELP ME WRITE THIS CHAPTER!**

Rachel peeked through the window of Amy's house, grinning widely. "Omg they're so adorable, I could scream!"

"Overly dramatic much?" Emeral scoffed, receiving a lethal glare from the lavender hedgehog.

"Whatever- crap, they're coming back out!" Rachel gasped, backing away. "Hide! Or they'll know we've been totally spying on them!" She dove into the bushes.

Before Emeral or Shadow could move, however, the door opened, revealing a very proud Sonic, being tightly hugged by a very, very excited and squealing Amy. It looked like he was dragging her out the door. As soon as he saw the two hedgehog's standing right in front of the door, Sonic frowned angrily.

"What are you two doing here right outside Amy's house?!" he demanded.

"Uh...well, we weren't spying on you and Amy, that's for sure," Shadow said quickly.

Emeral jabbed him in the side with her elbow. "Idiot..."

"Oh, well as long as you weren't spying," Sonic grinned, calming down.

Amy rolled her eyes. "Sonic...you're a blonde."

"I am NOT! I am blue, thank you very much! Not yellow!"

"I meant, you're slow, dummy!"

Sonic gasped with horror. "SLOW?! I am the FASTEST. THING. ALIVE!" he cried, seriously offended. "Sonic the Hedgehog IS NOT slow!"

"I meant MENTALLY, Sonic!" Amy groaned, facepalming. "Not PHYSICALLY!"

"Oh, well, in that case..." The insult sank in. "...hey!"

"Whatever, just GET THEM!" Amy yelled, pointing at Shadow and Emeral...who were no longer there. "Where'd they go?"

They probably should have realized that during their little debate, Shadow and Emeral had run off, Shadow using the chaos emerald's to teleport them somewhere safe.

"Oh well," Sonic shrugged. "I'll get them later. I gotta go, though, so, I'll see you later, Amy!"

"Kay, bye, Sonic, sweetie!" Amy flirted, smiling. She went back inside her house.

As soon as she was gone, Sonic leaned against the door and groaned.

"BOO!" Rachel screamed, jumping out of the bushes.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Sonic shrieked in a high pitched, girly voice. "-oh. It's _you_."

"Some thanks I get for getting you together with your Amy!" Rachel huffed, her hands on her hips.

"Amy and I aren't together," Sonic stated as if it were obvious.

Rachel's sky blue eyes bugged out. "WHAT?! Didn't you tell her how you felt?!"

"Uh...no...?"

"IDIOT!" Rachel smacked him in the back of the head. "That was the whole point in coming here!"

"I thought the whole point in coming here was to escape Emeral before she murdered us?"

"Whatever," Rachel pouted. "But if you didn't tell her you loved her, what DID you tell her?!"

Sonic blushed. "Oh, I told her that I really care about her and that I was sorry I'd offended her and everything." He smiled proudly.

Rachel sighed deeply, annoyed. "Sonic, you're an idiot."

* * *

Meanwhile, with Shadow and Emeral, the two of them had transported themselves (well, actually Shadow had transported them) back to Emeral's neighborhood.

"Phew, that was close!" Shadow breathed, relieved. "Sonic's still going to kill me once he finds me."

"Well, good luck with that!" Emeral turned to go back inside her house.

"Wha-? RUDE!" Shadow glared, his hands on his hips. "You were involved, _too_, you know!"

"Yeah, but it was _your_ idea," Emeral pointed out. "So, if you need me, I'll be home." She paused. "Oh, and do me a favor? Don't need me." She then walked up her stairs and inside her house, slamming the door shut.

Shadow huffed, crossing his arms. "What a buttface," he scoffed. It was then that he suddenly remembered that he'd never gotten any answers out of her. "Aw, DANG IT!"

* * *

"...and then she just walked off and slammed the door in my face!" Shadow finished, pacing the floor of G.U.N. headquarters. "Not even a goodbye! She is the rudest, most sarcastic, and most mysterious girl I have ever met! Ooh, I can't WAIT until we cross paths again and I force the truth out of her!"

Listening attentively, Rouge smirked, leaning her elbows against the desk she was sitting at and pressing her hands into her chin. "But didn't you tell me that she has more muscle than you?" the bat observed. "And you did run away from her, and all she did was make her eyes glow a little bit."

"It wasn't just her eyes!" Shadow argued. "Her hair...it, like...CRACKLED or something!" He shivered. "It was so creepy! And then she was all-" He mocked her tone, "-'I'll kill you' and everything, and...and you know what, Rouge? Stop being a butt and just listen!"

"Oh, I'm listening all right," Rouge winked. "So, when are you going to go see your girlfriend again?"

"Tomorrow at fiv- GIRLFRIEND?! She is NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" Shadow nearly shrieked, his eyes dilating.

"Aw, so cute!" Rouge giggled. "You're denying it on the outside, but we all know how you _really_ feel."

"HOW I REALLY-?!"

"So when do I meet her?"

Shadow threw up his hands. "I give up! You are just so IMPOSSIBLE!"

"So tomorrow, then?" Rouge asked, sitting up a little straighter. "Great! I'll go to her house with you and we can confront her together!" She winked again. "Oh, this is going to be SO much fun..."

"Rouge, you are NOT-"

"I'll see you at five then? Wonderful!"The bat stood up, taking his hand and forcefully shaking it as if they had a deal. "See you then, Shadsie." Without giving him a chance to protest any more, she beat her wings, taking to the air, and flew out of his sight.

Shadow facepalmed. "Dang it."

* * *

The Next Day

"-Rouge, please don't do this-"

"Too late, we already shook on it. The deal is sealed."

It was five o' clock and Rouge was practically dragging Shadow down the street towards Emeral's house. She knew where she lived because she'd stolen her file from Shadow in the middle of the night and looked it up (that's what happens when your partner is a master thief!)

"Rouge, please!" Shadow begged.

"We're almost there!" Rouge cheered lowly, completely ignoring him. "Good. Because, I'm tired of dragging _your_ sorry butt to _your_ _girlfriend's_ house."

"SHE IS NOT-!"

"WE'RE HERE!" Rouge interrupted him, silently laughing at Shadow's angry face, and pointing at Emeral's house.

Shadow groaned.

Hanging on to his wrist so he couldn't escape, Rouge dragged him up the stairs and in front of her front door. With her free hand, she knocked lightly on the wood.

"YOO-HOO!" Rouge called in a merry, singsong voice. "DING-A-LING! You have VISITORS!"

"Go away!"

"Open up, we're here to talk to you, hun!" Rouge smirked. She could feel Shadow frantically trying to wrench himself free and grabbed his wrist with both hands. "Please open the door!"

"I SAID GO AWAY!"

Rouge whistled under her breath. "Figures you would fall for the moat feisty girl in Station Square!"

"ROUGE, I SWEAR TO _TIKAL_-"

Rouge's knocks drowned out his voice. "IT'S SHADOW, YOUR BOYFRIEND, YOU LOON!" Rouge yelled. "AND HIS AMAZING AND _GORGEOUS _BEST FRIEND, ROUGE!"

The door slammed open, revealing a very angry Emeral, her eyes on fire. "BOYFRIEND?!"

Shadow rolled his eyes. "I already tried to explain it to her, so don't bother," he grunted. "She just tunes you out."

Getting all up in Rouge's face, Emeral jabbed her finger into the bat's cheek. "LISTEN HERE, BUDDY, THAT LOSER AND I ARE NOT TOGETHER!" she shouted. "AND WE NEVER WILL BE!"

"Not that I'm upset about that being as it is...but that's a bit harsh!" Shadow glared.

"QUIET."

"...okay..."

"I really don't care what kind of a lover's spat you two have gotten into," Rouge said, rolling her eyes. "But this boy here has some questions for you!"

"Really? I thought he learned I _wasn't_ going to answer _ANY_ questions at the GRAVEYARD!"

Shadow sweatdropped nervously. "Uh...it would seem...I didn't...?"

"Oh, you didn't? Well, let me be clear this time. I'M NOT ANSWERING ANY QUESTIONS!" She slammed the door in their faces.

Rouge shrugged. "She's _your_ girlfriend," she yawned. "Go sort this out. I'll be at that new jewelry store downtown stealing - I MEAN, BUYING - all their shiniest merchandise." She winked. "Have fun, Shadsie!" Then she flew off, leaving him all by himself.

Shadow groaned, resting his head in his hands. "What is wrong with that CRAZY bat?!" he wondered. The black hedgehog dropped his hands and stared at the door as if he could make it burst into flames. "Well, I'm here...so I might as well be persistent." He knocked on the door again. "EMERAL, OPEN THE DOOR. IT'S JUST ME THIS TIME."

"It. Better. Be," Emeral's muffled voice came from behind the door. The door flew open to reveal Emeral again, now less mad, but still mad nonetheless.

"Uh...nice weather we have today...?" Shadow stammered awkwardly.

"Goodbye." Emeral was about to shut the door again, but Shadow stopped it with his hands.

"No, WAIT!" he cried desperately. "I just want to talk!"

"That's what they always say...," Emeral muttered. "And then the next thing I know, I'm getting thrown into the back of a jail cell."

Shadow flinched. "...a JAIL cell?! Why on MOBIUS would ANYONE throw you in JAIL?!"

"Why would _I_ tell _you_?!"

"Um...because I asked?"

"Well, I'm not gonna."

"Poop," Shadow cursed. "What if I say 'pretty please'?"

"No."

"Pretty pretty please?"

"No."

"Pretty PRETTY please with a twinkie on top?"

"No - wait, a twinkie?"

"Yes. They're delicious."

"I hate twinkies."

"YOU MONSTER."

"YOU TWINKIE MONSTER!"

"Thank you, that's a compliment in_ my_ book."

"Well, _your_ book stinks."

"Well...your FACE stinks!"

"WELL _YOUR ULTIMATE LIFE-FORMNESS_ STINKS!"

"OH, **_YOU DID NOT_** JUST GO THERE!"

"THAT'S A GIRL'S LINE!"

"IS NOT!"

"IS TOO!"

"IS NOT!"

"IS _TOO_!"

"Hey, guys!" Sonic greeted, strolling up to them casually. "What's up?"

"GRRRRRRRR!" both hedgehog's growled viciously in his face, causing the poor hero to lose all the color in his face out of fear.

"Um...I-I guess I'll tell you later...BYE!" Sonic ran off, leaving a trail of fire in his wake.

"YOU ARE THE MOST OBNOXIOUS, EMO FREAK I HAVE EVER MET!" Emeral shouted.

"I'M NOT EMO! ...I'M MISUNDERSTOOD!"

"LIES!"

"MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY! LIAR!"

"BASTARD!"

"PIG!"

"OH, SO NOW WE'RE AT ANIMAL INSULTS?! WELL, THEN YOU'RE A WALRUS! A BIG, FAT, BLUBBERY _WALRUS_!"

"IS THAT A FAT JOKE?!"

"YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!"

"WELL...Y-YOU'RE AN OSTRICH!"

"Ostrich's aren't fat."

"YEAH...WELL...uh...YOU'RE A_ FAT_ OSTRICH!"

"Sounds like you put a lot of thought into _that_ one..."

His face turning crimson, Shadow let out a loud, raging groan. "YOU'RE SUCH A BUTT!"

"YOU'RE A _STOMACH_!"

"WELL, YOU'RE AN ANKLE!"

"_YEAH, WELL YOU'RE_**_-_**!"

"_**COULD YOU LOVEBIRDS PLEASE SHUT UP**__**?!**_" Rachel screamed, leaning out of her two story window, her entire face turning different shades of red. "**_I AM TRYING TO SKETCH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, AND I CAN'T CONCENTRATE WITH ALL THIS RACKET_****_!_**" She threw a tomato at Shadow and grimaced when it splattered all over his face.

Emeral laughed. "YOU'RE A TOMATO FACE!"

"NO, _YOU'RE_ A TOMATO FACE!"

"_**BOTH OF YOU ARE TOMATO FACES!**_" Rachel yelled, throwing another tomato, this one smacking Emeral in the face.

"I WILL BURN THIS TOMATOOOO!" Emeral shrieked, her hands on fire.

"HOLY MOTHER OF TWINKIES, YOUR HANDS ARE ON FIRE!" Shadow screeched, backing away.

"**_OKAY, THAT'S IT!_**" Rachel slammed her window shut. A second later she burst out of her front door, nearly knocking it off its hinges. Unfortunately for her, she kicked it open so hard that she accidentally caused a tomato plant sitting on her window sill to shudder and fall, splatting on top of her head, the tomato juice dripping down her face.

Stamping her feet, Rachel screamed with rage. "OH. MY. FREEDOM OF SPEECH!" she growled. The lavender hedgehog turned on Shadow and Emeral who were both still arguing. She stomped over to them and grabbed each of them by their ears, wrenching them down to make them face her.

"LISTEN UP," Rachel hissed menacingly. "IF I HEAR ONE. MORE. NOISE OUT OF EITHER OF YOU, I SWEAR TO TIKAL, I WILL MAKE YOU SUFFER!" Her blazing blue eyes bore into Shadow's surprised ones. "SHADOW, I WILL DESTROY EVERY TWINKIE ON. THIS. PLANET IF YOU SO MUCH AS BREATHE WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. I WILL ALSO TAKE AWAY YOUR PRECIOUS FOURTH CHAOS EMERALD AND SMASH IT INTO A MILLION PIECES!"

Shadow gasped with horror. "Noooo!"

Rachel then turned to Emeral. "AND...FOR YOU...I'm not going to touch you because you scare the muffins out of me..."

Emeral smirked at Shadow.

"BUT, NONETHELESS," Rachel continued, gritting her teeth. "I HAD BETTER NOT HEAR ONE. MORE. NOISE. HAVE I MADE MYSELF CLEAR?"

"Yes, mother...," Shadow mumbled rebelliously, causing both Emeral and Rachel to give him an ice cold glare.

"Was that SASS I just heard, MR SMARTYPANTS?" Rachel growled, wrapping her fingers around his chest fur and slamming him against the Emeral's door. "I may be calm and collected on most days, but LISTEN HERE, AND LISTEN WELL. You do NOT want to make me angry, BUSTER. My fuse is LONG, but it's attached to _DYNAMITE_!"

"Uh oh," Emeral said sarcastically. "Careful, Shadow. She might go HULK on you!"

Rachel glared lethally at the navy blue hedgehog. "_HULK?!_"

"What's this? Oh, one of the shingles have fallen off my roof," Emeral said suddenly, picking up the object as it landed at her feet. When she looked up, Rachel yelped at the evil look in her eye.

"U-um...," Rachel stammered nervously. "H-here, let me fix that for you really quickly...!" She grabbed the solo shingle and tried to put it back on the roof, but she was way too short. "Eh...eh...don't worry, I got this." When she turned around, Emeral looked even angrier than ever, steam bursting out of her ears. "EEP! I CAN DO THIS, PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" Finally grabbing the roof's edge by jumping, Rachel pulled herself up halfway and put the shingle back where it belonged. When she hopped back down, she was sweating profusely, her hands behind her back and a big, scared smile on her face. "THERE. No harm done."

"Aw...you didn't go hulk on the emo loser..." Emeral pretended to pout. "What a shame..."

Shadow rubbed his sore arms, mumbling curses to himself. "...yeah...a shame..."

"**_ALRIGHT. THAT'S IT. I HAVE HAD ENOUUUGGGGHHHHHH!_**" Suddenly, a light pink fog swirled around Rachel's ankles and a dark aura surrounded her entire body.

"Pink...?" Emeral cringed. "I hate pink."

Holding out her hands, a long golden staff appeared (kinda like Amy's hammer does) with a crystal ball of swirling royal blue aura on the top of it. Rachel's eyes flashed.

"_**NOW YOU'RE GOING TO PAY.**_" The staff lifted a couple inches and then slammed against the concrete, creating a tremor in the ground. The orb on the staff was suddenly engulfed in sparks of lightning which shot themselves at both Shadow and Emeral, knocking Shadow onto his back and missing Emeral, who sidestepped to the left.

"Whatever." The navy blue hedgehog brought her hands up and began shooting blazing hot fireballs at Rachel. Seeing it coming, and in her dark form, Rachel blocked the fireballs with her staff, shooting them at Shadow instead.

Shadow screamed like a girl when he saw the balls of fire heading for him and blocked his face with his arms, ducking_ just_ underneath the flames. He glared at Rachel, whipping out his green chaos emerald."YOU LITTLE-!"

Rachel huffed at him, her cheeks turning red. "LITTLE?! JUST BECAUSE I'M SHORT DOESN'T MEAN YOU NEED TO GET NASTY!"

"CHAOS SPEAR!" Shadow shot his attack at Rachel, sending her flying into a tree. An apple landed on her head and she growled.

"YOU GOT THE TASTE FOR WOOD?" Emeral used her telekinesis powers to lift a tree right out of the ground (yes, the one Rachel was leaning against) and chucked it at Shadow, trapping him underneath its many branches, apples, and leaves. "What a waste of apple juice..."

Shadow weakly lifted his chaos emerald into the air. "C...C-CHAOS CONTROL!" His body vanished from underneath the tree and reappeared on top of it. Both girls raised an eyebrow when they caught sight of the M1911A1 pistol in Shadow's gloved hands.

"Well then. A gun. How nice. What do you plan to do with it, because standing there with it isn't doing anything."

Jumping down, Shadow pointed the gun at Rachel. "I AM SO GOING TO MAKE YOU PAY FOR HUMILIATING ME!"

Rachel looked bored. "A pistol?" she laughed. "Weak."

Irritated, Shadow dropped the pistol and replaced it with a MP5A3 pump-action shotgun. "I'LL MAKE YOU REGRET THAT!" He cocked the shotgun and aimed it at her mouth. "Any last words?"

Rachel didn't move, just smiled. "You're going to shoot me? HA!" She twisted her staff around his legs, knocking him off his feet and onto his back. She grabbed the shotgun and tossed it at Emeral who caught it with one hand. When he tried to get up, Rachel stopped him by pressing her staff into his chest.

"Emeral, would you like to take him out? Teach him a lesson?" Rachel asked.

"Gladly." Emeral pointed the shotgun at Shadow's groin.

"NOT MY TENDERS!" Shadow squeaked. "CHAOS CONTROL!" He vanished from underneath Rachel's staff. When he reappeared, he was ten feet away, covering his crotch area.

"GET HIM!" Both Rachel and Emeral started attacking the black hedgehog at the same time; Emeral hurling fireballs and random objects and Rachel hurling ice and electricity.

"Mother!" Shadow cried, teleporting all over the place in desperate attempts to avoid getting hit. But of course, he had to get shot eventually and ended up with frostbite, third degree burns, and a completely paralyzed arm and leg.

"Yay! We got him!" Rachel cheered, highfiving Emeral.

Meanwhile, Sonic was peeking at them from behind the recently fallen tree. "Jeez...note to self: don't make THOSE TWO mad..." He slowly stood up, waving at the girls. "Hey, girls!"

Rachel and Emeral stopped celebrating and started firing all their attacks at Sonic, screaming like banshees.

"ACK!" Sonic cried, dodging the blows with his super speed. "Oi, it's me! SONIC!"

Rachel stopped firing and her staff disappeared. "Oh, hey, Sonic." However, Emeral shot one more fireball, just to make a point.

Sonic cautiously walked over to them, eying Shadow's sizzling carcass as he passed by him. "Um...yeah. Hi." He then looked at the girls. "Why are you two covered in tomato sauce? And Rachel, why is there an upside down pot on your head?"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about this thing." Rachel removed the pot and threw it at Shadow, bouncing it off his forehead. "What's up?"

"Well, I tried to tell you guys earlier, but-"

"FAKER!" Shadow leaped to his feet, still smoking from all the injuries. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING HERE? CHAOS SPEAR!"

"WHOA!" Sonic gasped, running away from the attack.

"DIIIEEEEE!" Shadow cackled, bringing a M136 AT4 rocket launcher out from who-knows-where and firing it at Sonic. **(Is he possessed? Or gone insane from his head damage? ;3)**

"HELP MEEE!" Sonic wailed, taking off down the road and leaving them all in his dust, especially Shadow who had just replaced his rocket launcher with a Milkor MGL grenade launcher and blasting armed grenades after him.

"Shadow the Hedgehog!" Rachel scolded, smacking him over top the head with a wrench. "What is the MATTER with you?!"

Shadow blinked, shaking his head as if to clear it. "What just happened?" He looked down at the grenade launcher. "Whoa! Cool!"

"I think he must have been suffering some MAJOR head trauma from all our attacks," Rachel grinned proudly. "Well, I think I'm going to go back home now. I don't even remember what I was doing out here in the first place."

And neither Shadow nor Emeral were going to remind her.

"Sooooo...how about that weather?" Shadow grinned, looking at Emeral.

Emeral looked bored.

"It's hot; and sunny. I hate it," was her answer.

"Man, you hate EVERYTHING, don't you?" Shadow asked, slowly edging towards her front door.

"What is there to like?"

"I completely agree!" Shadow laughed. "There is nothing likable about this stupid planet! ...except twinkies. But honestly, I'd prefer to be back at Space Colony Ark in space."

"Oh. It's in space? From the name, I thought it was in a tree."

Shadow gave her a dark stare. "Your sarcasm doesn't amuse me."

"I wasn't_ made_ to amuse you."

Shadow continued to subtly make his was towards her house. "Yes. Well..."

"Are you trying to get inside my house?" Emeral sighed_ really_ loudly.

Shadow's eyes darted back and forth. "Uh...no."

Rolling her eyes, Emeral stepped in front of him and opened the door, gesturing towards the inside with a wave of her hand. "If you wanted to come in, all you had to do was ask."

Shadow grunted, sweatdropping, and trudged inside.

Emeral shut the door behind him. "If you mess up anything in this house, I promise, you won't see the light of day again."

Shadow laughed nervously. "Thanks for the heads up..."

He looked around the house. He was standing in the entryway - on the edge of a round white rug - of the living room. It wasn't all that large, it had just enough space to walk through. There was one white couch pressed against the wall to his left, several white matching pillows scattered across it, although there was one black pillow in the middle; the couch had three divided sections to it, and the one farthest away from him had an attached footrest. Barely even a foot away from the footrest was a white chair, a single pillow sitting on it's velvety surface. An identical chair was angled several feet away from the previous chair, directly to his right. In front of the couch and the first chair was a glass table, completely cleared of any items. Hanging above the couch on the wall was a very large picture frame, almost the same size as the couch; the picture was of a very large black swirl. There were two long windows on the wall bisecting the other one, covered by lovely red curtains that hung down from a long white pole that framed the room, very close to the ceiling. Hanging from those poles were little light bulbs that brightened up the room, and also, hanging from the ceiling, above the glass table, were things white balls (Shadow didn't know what they were) with thin black stripes, strung up by black string. Finally, next to a door which led to a different room, was a fake little tree in a pot which reminded Shadow of a Christmas Tree...not that he'd ever cared about Christmas.

"I see you're into orderliness," Shadow spoke up, not sure what to say exactly for he wasn't the complimenting type. "And...uh...white."

"I hate white."

Shadow did a double take. "THEN WHY IS YOUR _ENTIRE LIVING ROOM_ WHITE?!" he almost shouted, baffled. "...and black and red..."

Emeral stared at him. "I wasn't serious, idiot..."

Shadow gasped excitedly. "Hey, I found something you ACTUALLY LIKE!"

"Actually, I really don't like white all that much...I'm thinking about getting this redone." Shadow facepalmed.

Sitting himself down on the couch, Shadow leaned against the arm. Emeral sat down next to him, crossing her arms and looking out the window.

"Soooo...," Shadow began. "How about-"

"If you so much as _mention_ the weather...," Emeral threatened.

"Er...alrighty then." The black hedgehog cleared his throat. "I've been wondering...why are you always so sarcastic?"

"Because I am."

"That...is a GREAT answer," Shadow said, purposely being sarcastic.

"Isn't it though? I put a lot of thought into it."

"I can see that."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Ugh...don't get all vague on me, Emeral," Shadow glared, folding his arms stubbornly. "Why won't you just straight out tell me anything?"

"Because I don't work that way."

"Then how _do_ you work?" Shadow asked. "Because it seems like you push everybody away and won't let anyone know the facts. You remind me of me!"

"Oh, so I'm a loser now?"

Shadow shrugged innocently. "You said it, not me..."

"Which you basically just did."

"Um...your logic sucks."

"Why, thank you."

Shadow puffed out his cheeks. "Why won't you just answer me? Why do you have to be so...STUBBORN?"

"Why do you like twinkies?"

"Because they taste good," Shadow answered. "See? I actually ANSWERED your question with something that MAKES. SENSE. And I don't answer a question with a QUESTION!"

"You have your reasons of why you like twinkies, so why can't I have my reasons of why I'm stubborn?" That shut him up...for a second, anyway.

"Well...I mean...those two things aren't related at all," Shadow pointed out. "Food and your personality? No."

"Anyways, next question," Emeral said, obviously avoiding the topic.

"Okay, why were you so mad at me when I wanted to ask you a few questions?" Shadow asked. "I mean, you slammed the door in my face. Rude, much?"

"You were being nosy...and you kinda still are..."

"Well, you know what...?" Shadow frowned, getting defensive. "Ever since I saw that horrible flashback, I've been...c...c...con...concerned. Yeah. I'm _concerned_ about you." The word "concerned" burned each time he said it. He was not the kind of hedgehog who _concerned_ himself with others.

"CAN YOU JUST GIVE ME THE QUESTIONS?!" Emeral demanded impatiently.

Shadow drew back, giving her a weird look. "Alright, FINE. If you're that eager to get on with it, let's get straight to the point. I was going to try and LEAD UP TO IT and be N-N...N...NICE..." Ugh, that word burned, too. "...but since you _really_ wanna hear it..." He turned on her. "I want to know why everyone hated you when you were younger."

Emeral froze. "**OUT OF MY HOUSE!_ NOW!_**"

Shadow hopped to his feet as if the couch had just burst into flames and burnt him. "W-w-w-w-what?!"

"**_I SAID NOW!_**"

"_No_!" Shadow fought back. "You are going to tell me what's going on, Emeral the Hedgehog! I want to know what kind of sick, twisted reason those stupid kids came up with back then! I want to know what on MOBIUS made them hate someone like you!"

"YOUR SO PERSISTENT! LIKE A HIPPOPOTAMUS!" Emeral yelled, turning away.

"How would YOU know what a hippopotamus is like?!" Shadow was bewildered. "You couldn't have ever met one! They live on Earth." He growled. "JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION, EMERAL!"

"**_NO!_** NOW _GET OUT_ OR I'LL SET YOUR FACE ON FIRE!" Emeral was on her feet at this point, her hands curled into fists that were surrounded by blue flames (yes, blue).

Shadow lifted his chaos emerald. "Don't make me use this, Emeral. I can travel through time using chaos control. Don't make me find out myself!" It was true that he could travel through time, but if he were to do so, he'd need a partner: Emeral. And right now, she wasn't so willing. Maybe lying to her could convince her to spill her guts.

"Go right ahead," Emeral shrugged, uncaring. "Do it right now."

Shadow started to sweat a little bit. "Uh...I will. Yeah..." He lifted the chaos emerald in the air, not so sure anymore. "Um...chaos control...?" As usual, he stopped time using the chaos emerald, but how could he tell her he'd lied? Shadow looked around the frozen room, walking a little to the left to make it look like he moved during the journey. When time started up again, Shadow pretended to look like he was totally sure of himself and knew everything.

"So. How did it go?" Emeral asked sarcastically.

Shadow gripped the emerald so tight his knuckles went white (not that you could see it underneath his gloves). "Great. Fine. PERFECT." He tried to look smug. "I know everything now."

"Really?" Emeral gasped with mock horror. "So, go tell everyone! Win a medal! What was the whole point of this conversation by the way?"

Shadow scrubbed his toe into the carpet. "...alright, I lied. I can't go back in time without a partner...and uh, it has to be you coming with me..."

"You're joking."

"...no, I'm not, I'm dead serious."

"I'm not going anywhere with you."

Shadow looked up, regaining his confidence. "Then tell me what happened! Here, let me make a guess: whatever it was, it's the reason you're so MEAN nowadays, isn't it? It's why you're always so sarcastic and rude and uncaring about other people and LIKE ME!"

Emeral blinked one long, slow blink. "Get out of my house."

"Fine," Shadow glared viciously, heading for the front door. "But I'm taking that response as a yes." He shut the door with a SLAM.

"Doesn't mean you're right," She mumbled to herself.

* * *

Shadow stomped down the street angrily, kicking every unfortunate pebble that sat in his path. "Stupid Emeral and her stupid stubbornness keeping me from her stupid past. Why do I care so much anyway? What has SHE ever done for me? Except treat me like DIRT!" He huffed, getting more angry by the second. "You know what?! She doesn't deserve my k...k...kiiind...ness..." Ack, these words! They were like fire! "She's the only person I've ever been n...n-nice to, except Maria..." He cringed at the thought of his dead best friend from his painful past. "...and she's definitely the last! From now on, Emeral is OUT of my mind!"

Yeah, right.

Suddenly, as he was tearing up the road with his heavy steps, Rouge waddled past him, huffing and puffing, sweat pouring down her face. She had her arms circled around a hoard of big shiny diamonds, and not only that, but emeralds and gems seemed to stick out of everywhere on her! Her shoes, the heart-shaped top of her jumpsuit, her gloves, her _teeth_...she even had her wings curled so they could cradle more jewels with care (which explained why she wasn't flying).

"THERE SHE IS! GET HER!" rang out from behind her. Shadow turned around to see at least seventeen police men chasing after Rouge, waving their clubs in the air and firing their handguns.

"SHE'S GETTING AWAY!"

"WATCH OUT FOR THAT PEDESTRIAN!"

"RUN FASTER!"

"TOO...MANY...DONUTS...!"

Breathing heavily, Rouge cried out. "Shadow, help me!"

Shadow took off skating in the opposite direction. No way was he helping that jewel thief. "You're on your own! After all, they are _your_ jewels!"

"SHAAAAADDDDDOOOOOOWWW!"

**Phew. DONE.**

**Rachel: I'm so tired...I think I'm gonna pass out. I'M SEEING DOUBLE, PEOPLE.**

**Emeral: ...Nice HELLO Rachel.**

**Rachel: Hello? HA! That wasn't a hello. THIS IS A HELLO. *clears throat* HIIIIIIII, EVERYONE! ^^**

**Emeral: After watching Shadow's theme song, I think it's gotten to her.**

**Rachel: *singing loudly* I'LL NEVER TURN BACK! NEVER TURN BACK! I"LL NEVER TURN THAT WAYYYY! NO MATTER HOW LIFE TRIES TO FACE MEEE, I'LL TURN THE OTHER WAYYYY-AYYYYY! *falls over and passes out***

**Emeral: *sits down and enjoys the quiet* We'll be back later...Look out for **

**The Emeral and Rachel stories**

**Rachel: *mumbles in her sleep* Sonamy...sonamy...so good...**

**Emeral: -_- My hopes of her being quiet were too high.**

**Rachel: *snickers***

**-_-**U


End file.
